Project Real

It can be quite difficult to get your head around a data warehouse/reporting solution.

But fear not. Microsoft, together with a number of it’s technology partners, has put together a project called Project Real. This consists of a sample implementation based on SQL Server technology and a set of sample data.  This kit consists of the following:

• A set of instructions for setting up the environment
• Guidance on how to explore the implementation
• A sample relational data warehouse database (a subset of the Project REAL data warehouse)
• A sample source database (from which we pull incremental updates)
• SSIS packages that implement the ETL operations
• An SSAS cube definition and scripts for processing the cube from the sample warehouse
• Sample SSRS reports
• Sample data mining models for predicting out-of-stock conditions in stores
• Sample client views in briefing books for the ProClarity and Panorama BI front-end tools

Project Real has been around for quite a while, and I’ve played around with it a few times. For some reason it never occurred to me to blog about it. It is well worth the effort working through this Microsoft kit as it is not often you are given the opportunity to work through a DW/BI implementation from start to finish.

MCITP SQL Server: Business Intelligence

I need to set some personal objectives for the next six months and I’ve been considering working towards the Microsoft MCITP SQL Server: Business Intelligence certification.

This requires that I pass two exams:

• 70-445: Microsoft SQL Server 2005 Business Intelligence – Implementation and Maintenance
• 70-446 exam: Designing a Business Intelligence Infrastructure by Using Microsoft SQL Server 2005

Passing the 70-445 gives you the MCTS SQL Server BI certification. Passing the 70-446 gives you the MCITP. The 70-445 is a prerequisite to the 70-446.

According to the latest MCP figures, there aren’t that many MCITP BI developers out there, so this may be a challenge I’ll take on.

From the company perspective, it will be a big plus as it will earn them their third competency – Business Intelligence, and will enhance our Microsoft Gold Partner status. Hitting this milestone should also yield a good bonus at the end of the year! On a personal level, it will allow me to build on my existing BusinessObjects and Performance Point Server skills and pick up more of the Microsoft BI toolset.

I’ve worked with Microsoft SQL Server a great deal and am currently playing around with SQL Server 2008. I’ve also used most of the Microsoft BI tools as well; SSIS, SSAS (for cubes) and SSRS. Having looked through the exam preparation guides, I think I can clear these two exams in the next few months.

I don’t think I’ll take any formal classroom based training for these exams. I’d rather use my training budget on something else, possibly Crystal Reports or BusinessObjects Data Integrator. Hence, I’ll be using the MS book MCTS Self-Paced Training Kit (Exam 70-445): Microsoft® SQL Server™ 2005 Business Intelligence—Implementation and Maintenance to get me going.

Once this is out of the way, I might start looking at Sharepoint, and portals in general.

Performance Point Server Exam

As a consultant working in the ever changing Business Intelligence arena, I have to keep up to date with the various Business Intelligence applications available on the market.

We are all familiar with the applications available from the big players like Business Objects and Cognos. We must not however lose sight of what the other players are doing. Microsoft is rapidly climbing the Business Intelligence tree and is building on it’s existing product suite through it’s purchase of ProClarity. Panorama recently announced it is working with Google to provide BI functionality to it’s Google Apps. I blogged about this in March 2008. And other companies like Tableau and Bizzantz offer exciting products in their own right.

I’ve helped a number of clients with their ProClarity solutions in the past, and with the release of Performance Point Server, I felt it would be worth becoming familiar with the product and getting certified.

For the past few months I’ve been studying and practicing for the Microsoft Performance Point Server exam – 70-556. I took the exam last week and passed.

This gives me the MCTS – Office Performance Point Server 2007, Applications certification:

Performance Point Server introduces some of the technologies gained from their ProClarity acquisition and merges it with technology from their Business Scorecard Manager application.

Taken straight from the Microsoft website, “Microsoft Performance Management allows customers to monitor, analyze, and plan their business as well as drive alignment, accountability, and actionable insight across the entire organization.” Yes…well.

Performance Point Server is indeed a powerful analytical tool allowing you to generate meaningful information from the vast quantities of data available to most, if not all, organisations today.

For those considering taking this exam, there are a wealth of resources available. I have used ProClarity on a number of occasions in the past, and was familiar with some of it’s reporting functionality and back end configuration. However, I strongly recommend further reading to prepare you for this exam.

First off, I recommend two books. The first is The Rational Guide to Monitoring and Analyzing with Microsoft Office PerformancePoint Server 2007. The second is The Rational Guide to Planning with Microsoft Office Performancepoint Server 2007.

Both books are straighforward and provide a good overview of Performance Point Server. Note that these books do not drill down into every detail of Performance Point Server, and none of the books covers every aspect of Performance Point Server individually. However, I don’t think this was the aim of the books. I believe their aim is to give a good overall understanding on some the aspects of the product, and I think they have succeeded.

You might find that there are still some gaps in your knowledge. You can fill these gaps by supplementing your reading with some of the additional resources I’ve listed further down.

Microsoft has three useful and important guides, available via TechNet:

PerformancePoint Server 2007 Planning & Architecture Guide

Deployment Guide for PerformancePoint Server 2007

PerformancePoint Server Operations Guide

Have a read of the useful Performance Point Server team blog. These are some very handy posts which will come in handy in the future.

Don’t forget to visit the Performance Point Server section of Technet. This has a wealth of information, including links to downloads, service packs, tutorials, documents and blogs.

Finally, although there isn’t an official Microsoft course, you must make use of the free learning courses available from Microsoft. These are 14 short modules which cover most aspects of the syllabus.

To prepare for this exam, I loaded the exam prep guide into Excel, and checked off every point as I covered it. I also downloaded the Performance Point Server 180-day trial to play around with. Use the AdventureWorksDW as your data source, and you should be able to create a few reasonable reports.

So there you have it. Enough information and resources to help you become familiar with Performance Point Server and with some study and practice, pass the 70-556 exam. Good luck!

Microsoft BI Conference 2008

Registration has opened for the second Microsoft Business Intelligence Conference.

This will be held in Seattle, WA on October 6-8.

With Microsoft rapidly climbing up the BI ladder, this should be an interesting conference.

Performance Point Server

I haven’t been posting as much recently as I have been focusing on getting the Microsoft Performance Point Server certification. This is gained by passing exam 70-556, and on passing, awards you with the Microsoft Certified Technology Specialist: Performance Point Server certification.

Performance Point Server is a product based on the Proclarity platform of Business Intelligence products. Proclarity has been developing Business Intelligence products over the Microsoft stack since 1995, and in April 2006, was bought out by Microsoft.

Microsoft has now integrated these applications more closely with its own Business Intelligence tools and has released them under a new application suite called Performance Point Server.

The exam covers a wide range of topics relating to PPS – installation, configuration, configuring dimensions, models, rules and dashboards.

Microsoft and Oracle certifications

I’ve been wondering whether there is any value in gaining Microsoft and Oracle certifications.

I have worked with Windows Server operating systems for over ten years, and likewise with SQL Server and Oracle databases. I think certification in these products would complement my Business Objects skill set quite well.

In the Oracle camp, an individual can become certified at the following levels:

• Oracle Certified Associate
• Oracle Certified Professional
• Oracle Certified Master

In the Microsoft camp, a number of certifications can be gained:

• MCTS – Microsoft Certified Technical Specialist SQL Server
• MCITP – Microsoft Certified IT Professional DBA
• MCITP – Microsoft Certified IT Professional Database Developer
• MCITP – Microsoft Certified IT Professional Business Intelligence Developer

You can also take the 70-282 exam (Designing, Deploying and Managing a Network Solution for Small and Medium Sized Business). This would give a solid foundation in Windows Server 2003 as well as various other items which support a future installation of a Business Objects Enterprise product.

These exams all take hard work, so it really needs to be seen if you can benefit from them. However, as mentioned in a previous post, they may give you an edge over your competition. It also proves that you have reached a certain standard in a highly competitive marketplace.